Subatuurn (the City Below)
The city below is true to its name, more than 90% of the city is actually located below ground, many chambers were dug out in ancient times using long lost technologies but the majority of these chambers are natural, the city makes use of the largest cave-system in the known world Mukmundi. The caves stretch some several thousand meters in all directions, chains linked to the other smaller cave systems that littered the continent. The city consists of many chambers, both natural and artificial, each one has a very specific purpose, the lower dry ones being used for food and material storage. The higher ones as sleeping quarters and public buildings, the colossal chambers nearest to the surface,. sometimes exposed to the wind and rain are covered in dense foliage, moss and vines cling from every surface are usually used for temples of worship or pens for beasts of labour. In the center is the largest hollow, a hive of activity and noise, many skinks busy themselves doing various tasks, some stand by forges or hammer down on anvils, others setup gritty market stools and places of trade, A few run in directions to a job or task they have been appointed to, some gather and congregate at holy shrines or bloody altars to hear prophecy and watch unholy horrors be slaughtered in the warrior gods favour or to pay consideration to various old ones. ' ' The only Buildings and constructions on the surface are great farms and plantations for Manogogo and Shimmering rice paddy fields. Forging camps were often set up along rivers and places full of the most life were food and meat would be salvaged to be stored in the city at a later date. Finally there was the large fields and penns used to keep Lamas and other such creatures to produce wool,pelt and fur but also fresh meat to sustain the cities beasts, sauri and kroxigors. ' ' The sound of metal on metal, sorting of beads or great forges at work ripples throughout the metropolis any tunnels and fine corridors held up on inscribed stone pillars. Subatuurn sometimes goes by many names including ‘City that never rests’ for the constant clinging of skink miners pickaxes or shattering of ore by many kroxigor’s heavy hammers echo at every time, whether it is night or day. If the had to be accounted to one task or job it would be that of mining and crafting, the city is the primary source of iron, bronze and many metals in the whole of lustria, Gemstones of all colours are to be found in the deposits that encompass the municipality from all round, they vary from Azure sapphires, verdant emeralds, flaming ruby's, to titian topaz, amaranthine Amethyst and chartreuse jade. These valued resources are forged and designed into complex ornaments and trinkets for Skinkpriests, slann or to be hung on various oldone shrines across the continent. ' ' Among the many trinkets and items crafted in the city the most notable is the venerable Lord Kroak, the greatest slann of Itza’s Golden Death Mask. ' ' Although there are a few select places were the labour of work cannot be heard, these include the temple district in the far west of the city were great sanctuaries are placed away from the commotion of the city's beating heart. These places also include the Depths of the city, Darkness stalks these abandoned chambers, the only sound a ominous dripping or echo of some long forgotten horror far more ancient than a mere demon, and bitter with hatred for living beings that are prevented from entrenching on the metropolis above by great magical warnings of protection and potec. ' ' sometimes stretching Deeper down than these chambers lie the city's many silent vaults sealing artifacts and treasures away from prying eyes and hungry creatures. The biggest ones rivaling that of Itza. At the deepest point of the city lies the eternal chambers of ----, No one knows what lies behind the main circular vaults decorated in golden glyphs, magical runes and the many trinkets and gems that the rest of the city produces. In similar nature the Mortuary of Tzulaqua, A nearby Tomb storing the scorched bones of a First generation slann is connected to the city. The cavern it was built in was expanded and carved into a great temple representing the power the slann once held. Several great pillars bigger than a house and as high as the tallest rainforest trees found in lustria help to lift up the roof and support the gargantuan chamber. In the center of it all a singular vault door leads to golden stairs were the bones are stored and protected by eternity warden's and Old guard alike. The torches and fires illumination the shrine never seemed to die out or dimmer despite the isolation of the reliquary. ' ' During the great catastrophe the city was overlooked and misidentified as a minor settlement, the surface buildings were quickly overrun and the farms were washed away in a tide of chaos, All the materials and food that could be was salvaged and brought down into the caverns before all was lost. The second news of the chaos incursion every resident was forced to make a decision: Ethier leave the city immediately and choose your own path or stay inside and prepare for the long siege that waited. Those that stayed began to block off the entranced and secure doors and passages as the surface only promised death. . The Several main openings were blocked, concealed or destroyed. Afew skinks sacrificed themselves to block the city off from the outside, many were killed during the task but succeeded in making the city unbreachable from the surface. ' ' After the initial attacks the population had to ration food and organise themselves in a manner to not be detected and to continue their assigned tasks and exercises to ensure the city stayed functional and able to defend itself against the horrors of the warp. Unlike most other cities, Subatuurn was safe from the great storms and plagues that ripped through the surface killing thousands. It was one of the very few cities to survive the great catastrophe and was the least damaged of all of them. The second the demons were ripped from reality and sucked back into their realm, the first citizens of the city began to emerge to gather food and assess the damage that had been caused to the once great lizardmen empire. Quickly after farms and gathering stations were once again constructed to supply the starving population with food and resource. Many Scouts were sent out to establish connection with the other now safe temples cities, Some never returned but the few that did came with the abhorrent news. Very few cities remained, Itza, Hexoatl and Xlanhupec among them The others perished in horrible ways. Zarmuda was dragged into the ocean by shadowy tentacles, Tlanxla was starved. Pahuax was missing, completely gone, Chaqua perished under nugles gifts and Xahutec was bombarded with a million unholy screaming souls. ' ' In the following years and decades the city was able to grow and reclaim the land that was once its own, its population rebounded and the mining industry grew to new heights, Artifacts were constructed and a few nearby cities and kahouns were resettled and founded. The ties wounds healed and the economy rebounded The Lizardmen empire seeked to regrow but the damage was done and the attempts were fruitless.